


Fuzzy

by Anonymous033



Series: Arospec Hayes [2]
Category: Conviction (TV 2016)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Aromantic, Arospec Hayes, Gen, Internalized Arophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 06:49:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8701684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous033/pseuds/Anonymous033
Summary: Tess frowns. It’s not that she’s not privy to that fact that Hayes’ dating history has involved people of more than one gender—tabloid magazines and her own thorough research have long informed her of such—but this moment hardly seems like the most conventional of introductions to the topic. “Did … something happen?  Between them?”Post-1x06 "#StayWoke". Tess finds Hayes drunk in the office; they have an awkward, but revealing, conversation. Prequel to 'Romantic Attraction'.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic and published it on tumblr before the latest episode—in which I've heard there was drama between Hayes and Conner, though I haven't seen the episode—aired, so please forgive me if there are any contradictions. Also, Hayes speaks fondly of Conner and Naomi throughout this fic. I realize their relationship is ... eh, tumultuous, so to speak, but I personally feel like Hayes' social life is complicated and isolated in such a way that it's hard to capture a holistic picture in a thousand words.

Tess doesn’t notice the other person until she’s stood up to leave for the night, her papers gathered up and packed away neatly in her bag. Turning off the lights in the conference room, she steps over to where her boss is lying on the couch in the office, heels kicked off and an entire bottle of what looks like whiskey in hand.

“Hayes?” Tess calls as she reaches the doorway of the office.

“Tess!” Hayes greets, her eyes bright and her grin with a sharp, wild edge to it. She seems to be drunk.

“Are you okay?” Tess asks uncertainly; she’s never dealt with this version of Hayes before.

Hayes’ grin only widens. “Never better. Not as good as the other two folks, but _I’m fabulous._ ”

“Which other two folks?”

“Conner and Naomi,” her boss answers amiably. “You know Naomi? She’s my ex-girlfriend. You should know Conner. Conner’s my ex-boyfriend.”

Tess frowns. It’s not that she’s not privy to that fact that Hayes’ dating history has involved people of more than one gender—tabloid magazines and her own thorough research have long informed her of such—but this moment hardly seems like the most conventional of introductions to the topic. “Did … something happen?  Between them?”

“She’s _Conner’s_ ex-girlfriend too. … Well, maybe they’re not exes anymore.” Hayes’ tongue slurs over the word ‘exes’ a little, and in the time it takes Tess to understand both what she’s saying and then what she’s implying, Hayes has already taken another gigantic swig from the bottle.

“Maybe you should stop drinking that,” Tess suggests.

“Alcohol is the best medicine, you know,” Hayes informs her, saying it with such authority that Tess almost believes her. _Almost._

“Can I take that?” she asks instead, stepping cautiously into the office.

Hayes cradles the bottle to her chest. “ _Nooo,_ ” she insists. “But I could pour you a drink. Or two. You want any?”

“I have to drive home,” Tess replies. She’s only half-kidding when she continues with a small smile, “But even if I didn’t, I don’t trust your hand to be steady enough to pour me a drink. Or two.”

“Pshhh. My hand-eye—hand-eye … _cor_ dination is fantastic.”

“I bet.” She tries to shoot her boss a reassuring look as she walks around to the armchair facing the couch and sits opposite Hayes. “What happened?”

“They were making out.” Hayes mulls on that with a lick of her lips. “They’re _great_ at making out. I don’t think they like making out with me.”

“Are you jealous?”

Hayes levels her a surprisingly steady glare, and Tess feels her cheeks warm in self-consciousness. She supposes it’s kind of a dumb question, but how else is she supposed to respond? She hasn’t exactly had a stellar track record talking to Hayes.

“They’re great at sex, too,” Hayes says, taking another drink of whiskey. For a moment, Tess thinks it’s a change in topic, but then—“I don’t do mushy feelings. Never made sense to me.”

“Oh,” Tess comments inadequately. She doesn’t know what to say to that.

“Naomi thinks I’m beautiful when I come,” Hayes adds, and Tess coughs as she chokes on her spit. As if nothing has happened, Hayes continues, “She was very mushy. Conner was very mushy. He wants to have babies with me.”

“And you don’t want to have babies with him?”

Hayes shakes her head vehemently. “I hate babies!”

“Okay, no babies,” Tess placates. “You could tell him that.”

And then Hayes gives her this look, mournful and tired, and takes another swig. “He has the fuzzies for me,” Hayes groans pitifully. “I don’t know what to do.”

“If—by ‘the fuzzies’, do you mean feelings? Like, romantic feelings?”

Hayes nods. “A lot of it. I don’t know where to put it.”

“Uhm. So, I’m guessing you don’t have romantic feelings for him?”

“I don’t do fuzzies,” Hayes whines. She buries her face into the couch, her arm going slack enough that she almost drops the bottle; Tess retrieves it quickly and puts it out of Hayes’ reach. Hayes doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, she murmurs, the side of her face pressed into the couch, “Maybe he and Naomi have the—the fuzz…ies for each other. Maybe that’s why they don’t love me.”

“Do you love them?” Tess gets off the armchair and kneels before the couch now, fingers reaching out to tuck Hayes’ hair behind her ear. Hayes doesn’t especially react, but she doesn’t shy away from Tess’ touch either, and that warms Tess’ heart just a little.

“I _dooo._ ”

“Well, why don’t you think they love you?”

At this, the other woman falls silent, but her eyes glimmer suddenly in a way that makes Tess thinks she might understand.

“Is it because you don’t have the fuzzies for them?” she presses quietly.

“If I learn how to have the fuzzies for them, will they want me?” Hayes asks with a pout. “We could be like the Three Musketeers. But—more _biseshual!_ ”

Despite the gravity of the situation, Tess startles into a chuckle at the simile and the unexpected enthusiasm. “Both of them, huh?”

“They don’t have to divorce.” Hayes furrows her brow. “Sep- … sep- … break up. We could be a threesome.”

“Maybe they’re not together, though. Maybe they’re just making out,” Tess reassures her, but the thought doesn’t seem particularly comforting to Hayes.

If anything, she just looks more haunted by that prospect.

Tess sighs. “Do you want to go home?”

Her boss remains unmoving for so long that Tess wonders if Hayes has somehow managed to fall asleep with her eyes open, but she eventually manages to swallow and sit up. In the blink of an eye, the haunted look is gone; left in its place is dishevelment and something world-weary, but so sober Tess would’ve thought the entire scene a figment of her imagination had it not been for the shakiness with which Hayes now stands.

“Take me home,” Hayes whispers, fingers outstretched, and Tess ignores the unintended double entendre. She stoppers the whiskey instead; picks up Hayes’ high heels and loops her arm around Hayes’.

Hayes leans against her, barefooted, and slowly they stumble their way towards to the elevator. It’s not the most pleasant situation in the world to be in; Hayes is heavy and smells somewhat rank—

But all Tess hopes for is that Hayes will be okay.

* * *

Crossposted to: [Tumblr](http://anonymous033.tumblr.com/post/153694642072/fuzzy-a-hayes-tess-one-shot-prequel-to)


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